Investment Advisor vs. Broker Dealer

An investment advisor dispenses investment advice catered towards individual clients' needs and investment accounts, while a broker dealer is in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers.

How To Become An Investment Advisor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an investment advisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Price Fishback Ph.D.

An investment advisor is any person or group that makes investment recommendations or conducts securities analysis in return for a fee, whether through direct management of the client's assets or by way of written publications. They often have discretionary authority over their client's assets and are required to uphold fiduciary responsibility standards.

You should possess essential skills to qualify for the position, including excellent communication and listening, as well as strong financial, analytical, organizational, and time management skills. As an investment advisor, your responsibilities will include educating clients on various ways of accomplishing their financial goals. You'll also determine the risk tolerance of your clients and analyze various investment options. Some of your day-to-day will include choosing investment options that suit your client best, providing investment recommendations, and record keeping.

Brokerage firms prefer investment advisors to be qualified and have at least a bachelor's degree with a major in finance, marketing, or business. Certain licenses are also available to cement your qualifications further. The average yearly salary for the position is $87,000; however, you can make more depending upon commissions and other bonuses. The average hourly salary for a traditional workweek is $41.85.

What general advice would you give to an investment advisor?

Price Fishback Ph.D.

APS Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona, The University of Arizona

Gain a great deal of oral and written presentation skills, training in statistics, and experience with computers.

ScoreInvestment AdvisorUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $105,377

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 15%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 8.22%

Black or African American 5.58%

Hispanic or Latino 9.38%

Unknown 4.37%

White 72.34%

Gender

female 27.73%

male 72.27%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an investment advisor

Explore investment advisor education requirements

Most common investment advisor degrees

Bachelor's

75.7 %

Master's

13.6 %

Associate

6.2 %

Start to develop specific investment advisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Exceptional Client	11.58%
Risk Management	9.79%
Client Relationships	8.83%
Health Insurance	8.22%
Business Development	6.62%

Complete relevant investment advisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New investment advisors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an investment advisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real investment advisor resumes.

Gain additional investment advisor certifications

Investment advisor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific investment advisor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for investment advisors include Certified Professional, Life and Health Insurance Program (CPLHI) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

More About Certifications

Research investment advisor duties and responsibilities

Manage and strengthen customer relationships through cross-selling and up-selling to maximize retention and income generation by contacting existing and prospective customers.
Obtain skills with different financial programs and tools such as Morningstar and NetX360.
Advise and recommend insurance products including, fix and variable annuities, and term life.
Focus on macroeconomic fundamentals, high yield, distress debt, volatility and macro base cross-asset statistical strategies.

Prepare your investment advisor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your investment advisor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an investment advisor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable investment advisor resume templates

Build a professional investment advisor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your investment advisor resume.